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As someone newly moved to Barcelona, one of your first official tasks should be obtaining Empadronamiento, which is a residence registration (assuming you’ve rented a house or room). This registration forms the foundation of your legal existence in Barcelona, Spain, and is absolutely necessary for all applications like TIE (residence card), though for bank accounts and Salut (free healthcare system), your passport and valid visa are sufficient. In the first article of the Barcelona 101 series, I’ll try to explain as clearly and straightforwardly as possible, based on real experiences.
What is Empadronamiento and Why is it Necessary?
Empadronamiento is a population registration that everyone living in Spain must make with their local municipality. It’s exactly the same as the residence registration in Turkey. This registration allows you to inform your municipality about which address you reside at. Especially when you receive a residence permit from Turkey, you’re given a 90-day visa, during which time you’re expected to complete your Empadronamiento process and provide fingerprints for your TIE card.
Required Documents for Empadronamiento
While these processes are basically simple in Barcelona, the part that will definitely challenge you the most will be getting appointments. This is because you need to make appointments each time for all processes like residence registration and providing fingerprints for residence cards. Because Barcelona has a large expat population, finding these appointments can sometimes become quite challenging, but there’s no need to panic.
Before starting to search for an appointment, make sure you have the following documents ready:
1. Valid passport.
2. If you’ve rented a room: Your room rental contract, the main contract for the house, and a photocopy of the landlord’s ID. (You can request them to come to the appointment).
3. If you’ve rented a house: An original contract with wet signature in your name; if it’s a photocopy rather than the original, you’ll also need proof of rent and utility payments.
4. Application form (They’ll give it to you at the appointment, it’s a simple form).
5. Make sure your contract is for a minimum of 3 months – though many people do it without a 3-month contract, it’s better to have one.
I rented a room from a company that had rented the house from someone else (this is a normal process, don’t be confused). Therefore, I have a main contract for the house, a subcontract, and my room rental agreement. Before renting, I confirmed whether the house was suitable for Empadronamiento – whether it’s a house or room, it’s beneficial to do this. After moving into the room, I got the appointment, went to it with the main property owner and the company I rented from, the whole process took less than 10 minutes, and the residence registration was completed.
Appointment Processes for Empadronamiento
There are three different ways to get an Empadronamiento appointment: first, you can make the appointment yourself online; second, your lawyer can manage this process for you; and finally, you can apply to third-party services that provide appointment assistance. My advice would be to proceed with the first or second option unless there are extraordinary circumstances.
How to Make an Appointment for Empadronamiento?
You can make an appointment by following the steps below on the official website of the Municipality of Barcelona.
1. Go to the Ajuntament de Barcelona website.
2. Click on EL MEU ESPAI > Espai personal at the top right.
3. Complete your registration by clicking on the Alta per Internet (Online Registration) link under the green button.
4. After completing the registration and logging into your account, return to the Cita previa page.
5. Start the process by clicking on the Iniciar el trámite button.
6. On the next page, Solicitar una cita is selected, keep it and continue to the next page.
7. Under Theme, select OAC: ATENCIÓN PRESENCIAL EN LA OFICINA.
8. Under Subtheme, select PADRÓN: ALTA/CAMBIO DE DOMICILIO and continue.
9. On the next screen, select the OAC office closest to your home and continue.
10. In the next steps, there are choices such as date, complete it and create your appointment.
After the process is completed, your document is given immediately, this document is valid for 3 months, after that you can download a new one online as a pdf or print it out using the kiosks in the OAC offices as long as you have a valid TIE.
How to Get Empadronamiento Online?
There are two ways to complete the residency process, the first is the appointment method above, the other is the online version where you upload documents. Frankly, I didn’t have much hope for this process because even the OAC office staff said that the process would take too long and you would need to make an appointment, but that didn’t happen and the process was completed in less than a week. Normally, this process would take less time because the company I rented from rented the house from another company and they asked for the contract, we uploaded it on Friday and the approval came on Monday morning. I will try to explain step by step how you can complete the empadronamiento process online and what documents are required.
How did the process work for me?
– I uploaded the documents on November 4th.
– I received an email on November 7th saying they wanted to see the articles of association.
– I uploaded the contract on November 8th.
– I received a confirmation email on November 11th.
Required Documents
First, go to the idcatmobil.cat website and complete your registration process. You can perform such transactions without a digital certificate with idCAT. The registration process is completed within 48 hours according to the documents and information you provide. I will also prepare a guide specifically for idCAT.
1. Contracts: The contract stating that you are renting the house or room. Make sure that the contract includes the signatures of both you and the other party. If the person or company you are renting the house or room from rented the house or room from another company or person, you will need the contract between them. The contract must be at least 3 months old.
2. Rent Payment Receipt: The receipt for your last payment, the address of the house (you can write it in the description) and the information in the contract (company, person name, etc.) must be on this receipt.
3. If You Rented a House: If you rented a house directly, in addition to the documents above, an electricity, water or natural gas bill for the last month is required; mobile phone bills are not accepted.
4. Additional Documents: If you were previously at a different address or if there is a problem with your registration at the current address, your old empadron document. They do not request this directly, but I uploaded it. You will not have such a document in your first application anyway.
Complete Your Residence Process
Your idCAT account has been activated and you have prepared the documents, you can complete your Barcelona residence registration process online by following the steps below.
1. Go to the ajuntament.barcelona.cat website, it is especially important to follow the link I provided because there are different links for different processes.
2. Click the Iniciar el trámite button on the screen that appears and log in with your idCAT information.
4. A screen from the 90s will open, don’t panic, I am explaining the 4 options on this screen, the translations are not one-to-one. You can proceed by choosing the one that suits you.
– Están empadronadas en otro municipio español y vienen a residir en Barcelona ciudad.
You were registered in a different municipality in Spain but decided to live in Barcelona.
– Vienen del extranjero para residir en Barcelona ciudad.
If you came from abroad to live in Barcelona. (You choose this if you are applying for residence for the first time)
– Estaban empadronadas en Barcelona pero su inscripción fue dada de baja, sin constar de alta en ningún otro municipio o Consulado del Estado.
You had an Empadron registration but your registration was deleted even though I did not change my address. (I experienced this and OAC could not give a clear reason)
– Desconocen su lugar de empadronamiento actual.
If you do not know your current registration location.
5. Select the address from the bottom. The address you select in this field must match the address in the system, continue until it matches. When there is a match, it should look like this:
6. If you own the house, you can select Propiedad, if you rented, you can select Alquiler from the section just below.
7. After adding your email address and phone number to the fields below, you can select Castellano as the application document language. Pay attention to the email address because they communicate via this email in case of missing documents or verification.
8. Upload the requested documents on the screen that appears and complete the application. When the application is completed, you will be given two different pdfs, be sure to download them.
9. How will you follow up on the application? Go to ajuntament.barcelona.cat and log in with idCAT by selecting EL MEU ESPAI > Espai personal on the top right.
10. You can follow up on your application processes from the Tramits tab on the screen that appears. If a document is requested or you receive approval, they send an email regarding this.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Empadronamiento Free?
Yes, the Empadronamiento (residence registration) process is completely free.
How Many Days Does It Take?
The process is completed immediately during your appointment and you receive your document immediately.
Is an Interpreter Required?
An official interpreter is not required, but if you do not speak Spanish, taking someone with you who speaks the language will speed up the process.
You do not have a rental agreement, how can you show your friend’s house as your residence address?
Fill out the Autorización De Inscripción En El Padrón Municipal, in short the municipal residence registration permit document. When you go to the application, have the house rental agreement, the front and back ID photocopy of the renter with you. In addition, it is more secure if you present the last 3 months’ rent payment receipts, electricity, water or internet bills (it can be one of these three bills). It would be good if the payment receipts include address information showing that the payment was made for the relevant rent.
I lost the Empadronamiento document, can I download it online?
Yes, go to this page and click on the Iniciar el trámite button and follow the steps to get it easily.
I have been living in Barcelona for a long time, how can I see my Empadronamiento history?
Go to this page and click on the Iniciar el trámite button and follow the steps, if you choose Historico instead of Actual, you can see all your past residence records.
How often should the Empadronamiento be updated?
Everyone who does not have a permanent residence in Spain must make an appointment at the OAC offices every 2 years and update their address.
Can my Empadronamiento registration be deleted without my knowledge?
Yes, this happened to me recently, sometimes due to system problems, sometimes the landlord removes you for some reason. It is useful to check this periodically. In such a case, you can contact the landlord and ask them to add you online or you can make an appointment again and register. Update: You can update your empadron without having to make an appointment by following the online process above.
I couldn’t find an appointment for empadronamiento but I have a TIE (fingerprint) appointment, can I complete the process this way?
Gözde made valuable contributions to this article, and I am also sharing an experience she had directly. ”I once couldn’t find an appointment and showed my fingerprint appointment and explained the situation, they gave me an empadron appointment for a date before my fingerprint appointment. In general, since the empadron issue is handled through OAC, they are more understanding, while immigration offices are more strict about everything.”
The empadronamiento process is a process where everyone has different experiences. I tried to collect the most common situations and questions for you in this article. If you encounter a different situation or have difficulty with this process, please share your experiences. In this way, you can both help other readers and contribute to keeping the guide up to date.
If you have completed the Empadronamiento process, you are now ready to register with the Free Healthcare CatSalut to receive the Barcelona Library Card.
